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Interest in the pathophysiology, etiology, management, and outcomes of patients with tricuspid regurgitation (TR) has grown in the wake of multiple natural history studies showing progressively worse outcomes associated with increasing TR severity, even after adjusting for multiple comorbidities. Historically, isolated tricuspid valve surgery has been associated with high in-hospital mortality rates, leading to the development of transcatheter treatment options. The aim of this first Tricuspid Valve Academic Research Consortium document is to standardize definitions of disease etiology and severity, as well as endpoints for trials that aim to address the gaps in our knowledge related to identification and management of patients with TR. Standardizing endpoints for trials should provide consistency and enable meaningful comparisons between clinical trials. A second Tricuspid Valve Academic Research Consortium document will focus on further defining trial endpoints and will discuss trial design options.

The genus Plagiotrochus Mayr was originally described from the western Mediterranean region, which remains its known centre of diversity with 14 currently recognised species, all inducing galls on evergreen oaks (mainly Quercus section Ilex; one on section Cerris). Nine species have been described from Asian bioregions. While European Plagiotrochus is undoubtedly monophyletic, some recently described Asian Plagiotrochus show anomalous morphology and induce galls on a different oak lineage, Quercus section Cyclobalanopsis, suggesting their erroneous genus-level classification. We used molecular data to test generic limits of Plagiotrochus on a global scale, plus species limits of European species. We sequenced four genes (two mitochondrial, two nuclear) for 17 European Plagiotrochus taxa, four Asian Plagiotrochus species (one galling section Ilex, one galling section Cerris, two galling Cycloblanopsis oaks), and a selection of outgroups from the same major lineage within the Cynipini. We demonstrate that Plagiotrochus species galling section Ilex hosts are a primarily European, monophyletic radiation that also includes the Asian P. tarokoensis. In contrast, the section Cerris associated species P. kunugiphagus has been erroneously transferred to this genus, being most closely related to other Cerris-group gallers, while species galling Cyclobalanopsis oaks are also outside the limits of true Plagiotrochus. Molecular data match up some European taxa previously known only from a single generation and synonymise two asexual-only species. These data also confirm generation pairings previously based on experimental rearings, confirm the nomenclature of two clearly-defined species, and assist delimitation of two new species.

Background: Cardiovascular heart disease is the leading cause of mortality worldwide, with the rupture or thrombosis of an atherosclerotic plaque being the main reason behind an acute coronary syndrome. It has already been established that the morphology of atherosclerotic plaques determine their stability. A lipid rich lesion with a thin fibrous cap is more prone to rupture compared to solid fibrous lesions. In the PROSPECTII study we used Near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) and Intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) to identify atherosclerotic plaques in the coronary arteries; NIRS-derived lipid core burden index (LCBI) and IVUS-derived plaque burden (PB) identified plaques that caused adverse cardiovascular events. Purpose: Our aim is to find biomarkers associated with LCBI or PB, to understand the development of vulnerable plaques. Methods: 902 patients were enrolled in this study after successful percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). A combined NIRS-IVUS catheter was then used to analyze approximately 200m of coronary arteries. Blood samples for biomarker analysis were taken before the PCI procedure and plasma levels of 182 proteins associated with cardiovascular disease were assessed using a novel method for measuring proximity extension assay. Adjusted linear regression models were calculated between the biomarkers and the outcomes of interest, followed by a false discovery rate (FDR) correction. Results: We found 24 proteins associated with plaque burden and 28 proteins associated with LCBI after using a cut off of two tailed P value <0.05. An overlap of 8 biomarkers could be seen between the two groups. After adjusting the P values with FDR, Angiopoeitin like 3 (ANGPTL3) retain edits association to LCBI, and Interleukin 18 receptor 1 (IL18R1) and colony stimulating factor 1 (CSF-1) to plaque burden. Conclusion: We were able to identify different biomarker patterns associated with plaque burden compared to lipid rich vulnerable plaques. ANGPTL3 was shown to on, Funding agencies:Abbott Laboratories Medicines Company Infraredx

This chapter reviews the morphodynamics of open-ocean barrier systems, synthesizing classic studies, current scientific knowledge, and future research directions regarding 14 barrier provinces worldwide. Within a coastal tectonic framework, it addresses: (1) Amero-trailing-edge coasts (USA’s New England coast, Mid-Atlantic Bight coast, North Carolina Outer Banks, Georgia Bight coast, Florida Atlantic coast; Brazil’s Santa Catarina coast; Europe’s German Bight coast; Australia’s southern and western coasts); (2) marginal-sea coasts (USA’s Florida Gulf Coast; Gulf Coast of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama; Texas Gulf Coast; Australia’s eastern coast); and (3) collision coasts (USA’s Alaskan Pacific coast, Japan’s and New Zealand’s coasts). This chapter also provides a glossary, important conclusions, specific recommendations regarding future coastal research, and a robust, current set of references.

The phylogeny of gall wasps (Cynipidae) and their parasitic relatives has attracted considerable attention in recent years. The family is now widely recognized to fall into twelve natural lineages, designated tribes, but the relationships among them have remained elusive. This has stymied any progress in understanding how cynipid gall inducers evolved from insect parasitoids, and what role inquilines (species that develop inside the galls of other species) might have played in this transition. A recent analysis of ultraconserved elements (UCEs) represents the first attempt at resolving these questions using phylogenomics. Here, we present the first analysis of gall-wasp relationships based on protein-coding sequences from genome and transcriptome assemblies. To address potential problems due to model misfit, we focus on models that accommodate site-specific amino-acid profiles and that are less sensitive to long-branch attraction than standard models. Our results show that the Cynipidae as previously circumscribed are not monophyletic. Specifically, the Paraulacini and a clade formed by Diplolepidini + Pediaspidini both fall outside of a core clade (Cynipidae sensu stricto), which is more closely related to Figitidae. This result is robust to the exclusion of long-branch taxa that could potentially mislead the analysis, and it is consistent with the previous UCE analysis. Given this, we propose that the Cynipidae be divided into three families: the Paraulacidae, Diplolepididae and Cynipidae (s. str.). Our results suggest that the Eschatocerini are the sister group of the remaining Cynipidae (s. str.). Within Cynipidae s. str., our results are consistent with the UCE analysis but place two additional tribes: (1) the Aylacini (s.str.), which are more closely related to the oak gall wasps (Cynipini) and some of their inquilines (Ceroptresini) than to the other herb gallers (Aulacideini and Phanacidini); and (2) the Qwaqwaiini, which are likely the sister group to Syner

The clinical implications of hypertension in addition to a high prevalence of both uncontrolled blood pressure and medication nonadherence promote interest in developing device-based approaches to hypertension treatment. The expansion of device-based therapies and ongoing clinical trials underscores the need for consistency in trial design, conduct, and definitions of clinical study elements to permit trial comparability and data poolability. Standardizing methods of blood pressure assessment, effectiveness measures beyond blood pressure alone, and safety outcomes are paramount. The Hypertension Academic Research Consortium (HARC) document represents an integration of evolving evidence and consensus opinion among leading experts in cardiovascular medicine and hypertension research with regulatory perspectives on clinical trial design and methodology. The HARC document integrates the collective information among device-based therapies for hypertension to better address existing challenges and identify unmet needs for technologies proposed to treat the world's leading cause of death and disability. Consistent with the Academic Research Consortium charter, this document proposes pragmatic consensus clinical design principles and outcomes definitions for studies aimed at evaluating device-based hypertension therapies.